§ 28-75-115 — Fiduciary duty and authority

(a) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including: (1) the duty of care; (2) the duty of loyalty; and (3) the duty of confidentiality. (b) A fiduciary's authority with respect to a digital asset of a user: (1) except as otherwise provided in § 28-75-104 , is subject to the applicable terms of service; (2) is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law; (3) in the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciary's duties; and (4) may not be used to impersonate the user. (c) A fiduciary with authority over the property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset in which the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor had a right or interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service agreement. (d) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciary's duties is an authorized user of the property of the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor for the purpose of applicable computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws. (e) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible, personal property of a decedent, ward, principal, or settlor: (1) has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; and (2) is an authorized user for the purpose of computer-fraud and unauthorized-computer-access laws. (f) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user when the information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the user. (g) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user's account. A request for termination must be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by: (1) if the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user; (2) a certified copy of the Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, small-estate affidavit or court order, power of attorney, trust, or court order giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and (3) if requested by the custodian: (A) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the user's account; (B) evidence linking the account to the user; or (C) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph (3)(A).

Legislative History

Added by Act 2017, No. 886,§ 1, eff. 8/1/2017.